


Lights in the City

by Insertpoetryhere



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Connor had bipolar/manic depression, Gen, High School AU?, Kinda?, M/M, Medication, Mentions of past teen pregnancy, Modern AU, Paranoia, RK900 is Richard, Slight implication of past rape/noncon, They’re teenagers, based off of a song, bc everything I write seems to be based off of a song, its fun, its fun but angsty, kiddos on the lamb, kinda slowburn, mentions of abuse, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 03:12:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17072417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insertpoetryhere/pseuds/Insertpoetryhere
Summary: Markus had to admit... this is not necessarily what he had in mind when he decided to run away. He’d expected to be alone, living off of what he could carry, and waiting until someone eventually found him and carried him right back to Detroit.Instead, he found Connor.And suddenly the world didn’t seem as dark and lonely as he had thought.





	1. Just Two City Boys

**Author's Note:**

> Wow poetry, is this a fic that doesn’t center around VLD? Amazing.

There was no way Connor didn’t recognize him.

Markus’s eyes narrowed in confusion as he watched his classmate walk past him in the nearly empty bus terminal. Connor looked over at him briefly, but didn’t say a word as he walked to the farthest bench and sat down.

Markus blinked a few times, making sure that it wasn’t a trick of the eyes. Making sure that it wasn’t his brain making some last ditch effort to get him to stay.

No, he was absolutely 100% sure that the boy sitting on the opposite side of the terminal was the same boy who sat on the opposite side of his anatomy class. But what the hell was a 17 year old boy doing waiting at a bus terminal at 2 in the morning?

… Ok, Markus had no right to judge him on that one. 

But still, there’s no way that this was a coincidence. The two of them just happening to be running off to god knows where on the same day, at the same time, taking the same bus? 

This entire night had been nerve wracking enough without having to sit here and worry he was going to be caught by a kid he hardly knew. 

Fights with his foster brother were not uncommon. But tonight, it had gotten out of hand. It had started as just the usual verbal argument, with Leo throwing insults at Markus and not getting a response.

But what changed it was when Leo decided to grab him and try to spin him around to face him. Markus had panicked, and his attempt to push Leo off of him had worked a little too well. His head had hit the ground with a sickening crack.

When Leo wouldn’t respond to him, Markus panicked. He knew if he stayed, he’d be kicked out immediately. And as a kid who had officially aged out of the foster system that September with little to no funds, he was screwed if he didn’t do something now.  
Markus didn’t wait for Leo’s dad to get back. He called 911, ran upstairs, shoved clothes, his charger, and his debit card into a backpack. He was gone long before the paramedics showed up.

He couldn’t go back, and he didn’t want Connor putting his escape plan in jeapordy.

Markus considered getting up from his seat and walking over to him, asking him what the hell he was doing here. He tapped his fingers nervously against the side of the metal bench he was sitting on.

No… this was just his nerves getting to him. Whatever Connor’s reason for being here wasn’t any of his business. The two of them were barely aquatintences, let alone friends.

He had his reasons for being there, and Markus had his. Best to just leave it at that, right?

——-

Connor hadn’t been nervous when he spent the past two weeks slowly packing his bag so that his parents or his brother wouldn’t notice what he was doing.

Connor hadn’t been nervous when he stopped by the bank on Saturday and completely drained his account. 

Connor hadn’t been nervous when he slipped out of his bedroom window, knowing any sound would undeniably wake Richard up.

Conner hadn’t been nervous when he got suspicious glares from the man on the subway on his way to pick up his fake ID from North.

Connor wasn’t even nervous when he was buying his ticket, trying to pass of as a 25 year old man.

But seeing Markus at the terminal?

That made him nervous.

What the hell was he doing here? Connor’s head was spinning as he tried to figure out how he was supposed to walk past him without being spotted. 

He gritted his teeth in frustration, internally screaming at himself. He had calculated every possible event, and made a plan for all of them. But of all the things he had thought of (earthquakes, flash floods, police, etc.) he hadn’t thought to factor in that he might see someone he knew.

“It’s ok Connor, be cool…” he whispered to himself. Connor pulled the hood of his jacket over his head, glancing over at Markus before hurrying past him.

He only took a breath once he was on the complete opposite end of the terminal, plunking down on the bench and fishing his phone out of his pocket.

The screen glowed, displaying a text from his best friend Kara over the default background.

K: you there yet???

Connor smiled a little. Kara was the only person he had told his plan to, partially because he trusted her and partially because he had to give her a reason for why he was ditching on their AP government project.

C: Just got here. 

He hit send, and his phone went off again not a second later.

K: i still don’t think this a good idea :(

C: I know, but I need to do this.

K: what if they find you??? you should go to the police, you remember what happened last time

Connor tried to think of something to say that might reassure her, but he had to admit that nothing was really coming to mind. There wasn’t much one could really say in a situation like this.

Connor’s parents had never hit him. They hadn’t always really been the best when it came to emotional needs, but he could say in all honesty that they had never once hurt him.

But sometime last year, Connor had overheard a conversation between his mom and their insurance agency regarding Connor’s life insurance. Now Connor had been pretty apathetic growing up, but when he overheard that it was like something switched. Sure, he’d been getting into a few more arguments with Richard, and his GPA had slipped from a 4.0 to a 3.7… but that didn’t mean that his parents would kill him…

Right?

He had tried to talk to Kara about it at first, but she was convinced he was just overreacting. As the months passed, he began to notice his family distancing themselves from him. His parents began to show clear favoritism towards his brother, they looked at him differently, his dad resigned from the company he started based off of his mom’s promise that they were going to come into a large sum of money soon.

Connor had ran away once already, staying with an older man named Hank who had hid him from the police despite being an officer himself. But staying in Detroit turned out to come with its own risks and he was eventually caught after 5 months and sent back.

He didn’t know if the incident had costed Hank his job or not, but he’d gotten a call from him shortly afterwards, telling him that there was a bus that could take him out of town. Hank told him to book it, and that was enough for him to know he wasn’t crazy.

Connor’s thoughts were cut off by the sound of the greyhound bus pulling up to the terminal.

C: Bus is here, I’ll call you once I find a place to stay.

He hit send, grabbing his bag off of the bench, and jumped off, heading towards his escape.

He bumped into Markus as he climbed in. He looked down and muttered an apology, walking quickly to find a spot on the bus which was already crowded with passengers from the other terminals across the city.

He took a seat far enough away from Markus so that he couldn’t be seen, but close enough so Connor could keep an eye on him.

He didn’t care where he got off, but if he wanted the best chance of getting away then it couldn’t be the same stop as Markus.

Connor turned his head to look out the window, watching the lights of Detroit pass by in a flash as the bus sped by. He said a silent goodbye to the town he grew up in as he unwilling drifted to sleep.


	2. Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don’t always go to plan... and Connor doesn’t really know how he feels about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a bit of a light hearted one, but our boys deserve a little laugh.

Connor hadn’t meant to fall asleep. But he supposed that’s what happened when you hadn’t slept properly for weeks now. When he was at home, he felt like he had to sleep with one eye open. He could have sworn some nights that he had heard the door crack open, or that someone was in the room with him. Well, obviously there was Richard, but that was an entirely different feeling. He was probably just being paranoid, but still…

It was easier to sleep on this bus surrounded by strangers than it was to sleep in this own room.

He was definitely in a very realistic dream about playing with a large dog in a really big backyard when someone finally shook him awake.

“You gotta get off, kid.” A gruff voice said. Connor opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the light before looking around groggily. He was the only one left on the bus aside from the driver, and it was clear that he wasn’t really welcome.

He nodded, grabbing his bag off of the seat next to him and shuffling his way out to the aisle. Before he could leave, he felt a hand press onto his shoulder.

“Hold up… how old are you, son?” He driver asked. Connor turned over his shoulder, looking the man in the eye.

“I’m 25.” He said plainly. The man raised an eyebrow at him, looking him up and down. Connor considered making some comment regarding that action, but decided it wasn’t worth it.

“You look like you’re 15 at most.” The driver insisted. Connor scowled a little. 17. He was 17.

“Good genes. I guess.” Connor shrugged, smiling. He glanced out the window at the bus terminal they had stopped at. “Do you mind telling where we are?”

The man looked out the window with a sigh. “A couple miles out of Fort Wayne.” He answered simply.

Connor furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “I’m sorry, Fort Wayne?”

“Fort Wayne, Indiana.” The driver huffed. “Not where you were trying to get, son?”

“No!” Connor said a little too quickly. “I mean… no, this is exactly where I needed to be. Thank you.”

Connor turned on his heel and continued down the aisle, exiting the bus before the driver could ask him any more questions. 

He spotted a McDonalds and a Mobile gas station attached to the terminal and decided to stop in and see if they could help him find a place to stay. As he walked in, he devised a story about being a college student backpacking across country in case anyone asked him who he was or where he was going. Connor was feeling pretty confident, smiling smugly as he opened the glass doors…

Then he saw Markus.

\-------

Markus honestly had no clue where he was.

He knew he was in Indiana, in a small town just outside one of the bigger cities… but that was about it. To be entirely honest, Markus had never heard of Fort Wayne. Last week you could have told him that Indiana was a myth and he probably wouldn’t have questioned it.

But now he was here, and he figured it was best to figure out exactly where “here” was.

As he tried to hold the map he had unfolded in the middle of a gas station, he noticed the door open out of the corner of his eye. When he saw who had just walked in, he nearly dropped the map in his hands.

His green and blue eyes met Connor’s brown ones and the two of them froze. How the hell did he get here? Markus could have sworn that he had gotten off on the Michigan-Indiana border a few stops back.

Connor looked just as confused as he started to walk over to him, looking both ways before hand as if he was crossing the street.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, half confused and half threatening (though Markus had trouble feeling threatened by someone who was nearly a head shorter than him). Markus narrowed his eyes, even more confused. Was he trying to play dumb?

“What do you mean what am I doing here?” He asked defensively. “Mind telling me what you’re doing here?”

Connor suddenly looked absolutely terrified. “Shit… Did my parents send you?” It sounded much more like an accusation than a question. Ok, now Markus was just lost.

“Your… What?” he asked, exasperated. “I don’t even know your parents!”

Ok, that last part wasn’t entirely true. Markus did know who Connor’s parents were. Mr. and Mrs. Kamski had been the ones who founded the robotics company in Detroit, and by extension all of the robotics and automation courses at the high school and university. Frankly, Markus was sure that there was no way Connor Kamski could go anywhere in Detroit without people knowing who he was…

Markus supposed that was good enough reason for him to want to leave.

But the point was that Markus was definitely not sent by Connor’s parents.

Connor eyed him suspiciously, as if that wasn’t enough. But he nodded, accepting that he wasn’t going to get the confession he had hoped for.

“Whatever, just… I’m going. Don’t follow me.” Connor insisted. He began to to walk away.

“Go then, I’m not stop you.” Markus retorted, looking back at his map. Connor huffed and walked away. Markus watched as he approached the girl behind the cashier, leaning in to talk to her. The girl stared at him blankly, sneered, and went back to reading her magazine.

Wow, tough crowd. Markus laughed a little, watching him move hesitantly from the cashier to a woman looking at postcards. She didn’t even look up as she casually thumbed through the different cards. Connor furrowed his brows in confusion, walking away disheartened and frustrated.

“May I ask what exactly you’re trying to do?” Markus asked, looking up from his crumpled map with amusement.

“I thought you said you would leave me alone.” Connor deadpanned as he passed by.

“No, I said if you were leaving I wasn’t going to stop you.” Markus explained. “I never said I wasn’t going to tease you if you chose to stay.”

“I am leaving.” Connor insists. “... After I find a place to go.”

“Wait wait wait,” Markus laughed. “That’s what what you were trying to do?”

“Yes.” Connor answered honestly. “It… hasn’t worked yet. But it will.”

“Oh, I’m sure it will buddy.” Markus clapped him on the back, almost dropping the map once again. 

“I will.” Connor said with determination. “I just… haven’t found anyone who knows yet. That’s it.”

“Has it occured to you that maybe no one will give you directions because you look like an actual 14 year old?” Markus pointed out. Connor pouted, realized it wasn’t helping his case, and changed it into a scowl. He looked down that the crumpled map in Markus’s hands.

“You have a map, how about you tell us where we should go!” Connor crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. Markus frowned and looked back down at the map.

“Yeah, sure.” He tried to sound calm. “No problem…”

He fumbled around with the map for a few more minutes before he heard Connor start to laugh (Markus didn’t know he could laugh).

“You can’t read a map!” Connor shook his head in disbelief. Markus narrowed his eyes.

“And you can’t charm anyone into giving you directions so I guess we’re shit out of luck.” Markus folded the map back up (crumpled it? Hard to tell).

Connor rolled his eyes. “Let me just try asking one more person.”

“Yeah, because it was working so well.” Markus scoffed.

“It was going to!” Connor wasn’t raising his voice per se, it was just starting to squeak at a slightly higher frequency. Ah puberty. Thou art a cold bitch.

“Yes, because you have such amazing people skills!” Markus pointed out. Connor opened his mouth, but then looked down, confused.

“I- wait, I don’t need your permission! Since when did we team up?” Markus couldn’t tell if Connor had asked that question to him or to himself. He considered asking which one it was, but before he could, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

The two turned to see an elderly woman, short, stout, and scowling up at them.

“This is a place of business, not a fight club!” She glared at them, clutching a handbag that Markus was 100% sure she was going to beat them with if they said something she didn’t like.

Connor glanced over at him, giving him a look that asked “should I do it?”. Markus shook his head. No, this was definitely not the best time to-

“Excuse me, do you know any hotels nearby that we could rent out for the night?” Connor asked. Well shit.

Markus couldn’t tell if it was Connor’s phrasing of the question, or the fact that it was two men asking, but the old woman looked at them in pure disgust. Still, she gave the two an address to what she described as a “more suitable place for their buffoonery” and told them to get out of her sight.

“Is there anything you’d like to say?” Connor asked smugly as the two exited the gas station. Markus laughed and rolled his eyes.

“You know what, I’ll be the bigger person and give credit where credit is due. You did in fact successfully gross an elderly lady out so much that she gave us the address to a motel just so that we’d leave her alone.” He said sarcastically. “For that I applaud you.”

Connor’s strange robot brain did not seem to compute the intended meaning of his comment. He smiled a little bit more, his posture becoming more confident.

“Told you I could.”

\-------

“You can rent the rooms by hour?” Connor questioned as the two waited in the lobby of a sketchy motel.

“I guess so.” Markus winced at the implication, hoping to god that someone could come, give them their rooms, and let them just be on their way. Connor squinted.

“Why would you rent a room by the hour?” Connor asked . Markus shook his head.

“It’s really best if you don’t think about it.” He said plainly.

Connor seemed to understand what he meant. He grimaced at the sign he had been reading, backing away from it. “Gross.”

Finally, a man appeared behind the counter. He popped his gum and raised an eyebrow at the two, as if they were the ones who had kept him waiting.

“Oh, we um… there’s two of us and we need a place to-” Markus started, but was cut off by the man holding his hand out. Markus took this as a sign that he understood what he was about to say and fished his debit card out of the pockets of his jeans. The motel seemed to have a strict no-cash policy, so Connor had promised him he’d pay him back the $40 for his room with the money he had in his bag. Honestly, Markus could use some cash, so the arrangement worked just fine.

The man tossed him a key and turned to go back through the door behind the counter.

“Uh, hey! You only gave us one room!” Connor called after him after observing the keys. The man sighed, turning his head to look back at him.

“That’s kinda the point, isn’t it Sherlock?” He retorted, disappearing behind the door. Connor and Markus chose to ignore the implications behind what the man had just said and decided to just go find their room and crash.

It was clear on the other side of the motel, right next door to one very enthusiastic couple who loved each other very… very much.

At this point, Markus didn’t care if he walked in and the bed was made out of human skin. He needed to rest.

Connor was clearly on the same page, since the first thing he did when he walked through the door was chuck his sweatshirt on the desk and kinda fall face first on one of the beds. Markus threw his bag on the other (thank god there were two beds and not just one) and began pulling his shoes off. He heard a muffled noise come from Connor’s bed.

“I almost forgot,” He heard the bed creak as Connor sat up, shuffled through his bag, and held out a $20 bill. Markus looked up at him, slightly confused.

“It’s for my side of the room.” Connor explained, holding it out farther. Markus smiled and shook his head.

“Nah, keep it. You can pay me back by paying for the room tomorrow night when we stop.” Markus pushed Connor’s hand away gently. Now Connor looked confused.

“Tomorrow?” Connor asked. Markus looked up, making sure to look Connor right in the eye.

“Yeah, I mean we’re partners now, right?” He said simply.

Connor pursed his lips. “We are?”

“Yeah. I know it’s kinda out of nowhere, but without you I’d probably still be at that gas station crumpling up a map I didn’t pay for. We make a good team… a weird one, but a good one.” Markus said sincerely. “So this one’s on me, but if you want to you are more than welcome to pay for the next shady prostitution motel.”

Connor looked at him blankly for a moment, but then smiled. “Yeah… yeah, I can do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooooo follow me on Twitter @*insertpoetryhere* so you can get those updates every time I post something with this or any of my other fics. It’s fun, please come keep me company.


	3. Happy Little Pill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor has a few too many demons, and Markus has a few too many muffins

At first Connor thought the cheerful jingle was his alarm, trying to wake him up for another day of school. He reached out, muttering incoherently into his pillow and trying to convince himself to let him have 5 more minutes. It only took a few seconds for him to realize that the noise was his ringtone, not his alarm. He squinted in the too-bright light streaming in from a gap in the curtains.

He looked over to the bed next to him, but found it empty. He tried to ignore the tight feeling in his chest as he realized Markus must have booked it in the middle of the night. Whatever, as long as he didn’t take anything of his then it shouldn’t matter. Nothing mattered except getting as far away as he could.

Connor looked over to his phone, which was connected to it’s charger and laying on the table next to the bed. His screen was lighting up, displaying a picture of two faces smiling up at the camera. Connor didn’t have to examine it too closely to figure out who was calling him. He’d only ever changed one person’s contact photo from the default grey silhouette.

He took a quick second to admire the picture, the corners of his mouth turning up in a half smile.

It was a picture of him and Kara that he’d taken a few years back, right before the two headed off to their first homecoming game. Connor’s cheeks were streaked with stripes of blue and white, the school’s colors. There was a circle of blue face paint on his right temple from when Kara had made an attempt to press the paint on the tip of his nose. He’d moved too quickly for her to actually succeed in her mission, but they both thought it had looked cool (Kara had joked that it was his “off button”). 

Connor looked at his face, realizing that he really didn’t look that much different. Kara on the other hand didn’t look like the same person at all. Her hair was still long, tied back in a light brown ponytail. She looked happier, sticking her tounge out at the camera. Life had been a lot simpler then.

It was one of the only pictures Connor had where he was actually smiling (he still remember what his mom said when she first saw it. “I can never get you to smile like that”). 

He clicked the green answer button and put the phone up to his ear.

“Hello?” He greeted, still sounding sleepy

“Why the hell weren’t you answering your phone?” Kara yelled, causing Connor to flinch. “Do you know how worried I was? Last I heard from you, you were getting on a bus heading to god knows where! Then nothing! Do you know what kind of stuff was going through my head? I thought you got got caught, or hurt… or worse...”

Connor could tell from her voice that she had been crying, and he immediately felt guilty. “I know, I was going to call you once I found a place to stay, but I was tired and Markus-”

“Wait wait wait… who’s Markus?” She asked. “... Connor, please tell me you’re alone right now.”

Connor pursed his lips. “Yes, yes I’m alone.”

“... But you weren’t earlier, were you?” She asked. “Connor, please tell me you did not spend the night with a stranger.”

Connor rolled his eyes. “You make me sound like a slut. I slept in a motel room, in a separate bed, on the opposite side of the room from a guy that I did in fact know.”

Kara sighed. “I’m sorry… I just don’t like this.”

“I know you don’t.” Connor said carefully. 

“...It’s not too late to come back.” Kara suggested. Connor knew this was coming.

“I’m not coming back.” He said plainly. He knew Kara didn’t believe him. She genuinely thought that what Connor had heard was all in his head, some fantasy he had designed just to freak himself out. And he had a feeling he knew what she was going to say next.

“When was the last time you took your pills?” She asked. “You brought them with you, right?”

“Yes… yes, they’re in my bag.” He sighed, pulling the white bottle out of the side pocket of his backpack. The bottle didn’t have a prescription label, but rather a white sticker with his dad’s handwriting. 

His dad said they were antidepressants. That’d they’d fix whatever was wrong with him.

At first it had really felt like that, but as time went on he started to feel less and less. It was like it was draining him little by little, pill after pill.

His dad said it was supposed to do that. Feeling nothing was better than feeling like a ticking time bomb.

“Connor…” Kara whispered carefully. “Promise me you’ll keep taking them. I don’t want you to…”

“Kill myself or something?” Connor finished with a dry laugh. Kara said nothing, making Connor bite at the inside of his cheek. Kara tried to understand, she really did… but shit like this doesn’t have an off switch. “I promise.”

The high pitched cry of a baby could be heard on the other line, causing Connor to finch. Kara sighed. “Alice is awake, and I need to get to school. I’ll call you at lunch, ok?”

“Gotcha.” Connor said, finally getting up and stretching.

“... Is there anything you want me to say to Richard?” Kara asked carefully. Connor took in a sharp breath.

Richard… his brother…

Connor’s guilt increased exponentially, realizing that he had knowingly left his own brother in that house. Almost entirely alone.

Connor knew he was safe… he had to be. Their parents wanted Connor dead, not Richard.

But still, the two of them had never once left each other‘s side, especially in times like this where one of them was scared. 

Connor had left him in the dead of night, no note, no anything. Even if Richard had woken up and assumed that Connor had left earlier in the morning, he’d still find out soon enough what had really happened.

Nothing Connor said could change that.

“No.”

———

Markus felt pretty victorious walking out of the main lobby, jacket pockets not-so-subtly stuffed full of blueberry muffins sealed in shiny plastic wrappers.

He was shocked when he was reading through the hotel’s brochure before bed last night and found out they provided free breakfast. He jumped to the opportunity to not have to pay for something and set his alarm almost immediately.

He’d made an attempt to wake Connor up in the morning, but it didn’t seem like anything was going to wake him up. In the state he was in, that boy could have slept through an earthquake.

Markus sat alone in the small sitting area attached to the lobby, getting strange looks as he filled his plate at least 3 times. People passed by, mainly businessmen who were hiding hickeys with their starch white collars as they called their wives to tell them they got to the motel ok.

Markus left as soon as he emptied his last plate, shoving as much packaged pastries into his jacket as he could so that Connor would have something to eat too.

As he approached the door to their room, Markus could hear Connor’s voice on the other side, talking to someone with a certain defeat in his words.

By the time Markus opened the door, Connor was silent, his phone sitting idly in his hand. He looked up, both confused and relieved. Markus furrowed his eyes in confusion.

“You ok?” He asked, closing the door behind him. “You look like you’re seen a ghost.”

“Y-yeah, I just…” Connor sighed, looking up at Markus with those honest brown eyes. “I thought you left…”

Markus felt a smirk tug at the corner of his lips. 

“And just left all my stuff?” He pointed out. Connor’s face turned red, making Markus laugh a little bit. “If I planned on booking it, I would have let you pay for the room.”

Connor cleared his throat, making a desperate attempt to change the topic. “So what time is check out until?” He asked.

“It ends in about another hour…” Markus grimaced. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to get out a bit sooner than that.”

Connor laughed a little. “Agreed.”

Markus shoved his hands into his pockets, hearing the crinkles of plastic and suddenly reminded of his role in the Great Muffin Heist of 2018. He smiled, pulling on out of his pocket and holding it up.

“Got you something!” He announced, tossing the package to Conner. He caught it with little effort, but still looked surprised as he held it in both of his hands. A corner of his mouth turned up slightly.

“Thanks.” He said to Markus, tearing open the plastic and trying his best to eat the crumbled muffin without making a mess.

Connor got up, walking into the bathroom to brush his teeth and change before they headed out (neither of them were stupid enough to take their chances with the shower. This room looked like the crime scene for at least 3 murders, they wouldn’t be shocked if they turned on the shower and blood poured out of it).

Markus started gathering things back into his backpack as Connor walked back out into the main room, now wearing lighter wash jeans and a Detroit Police Department sweatshirt (how the hell did he get that?). Markus watched him pick up a white bottle off the bedside table, open up the cap, and pour out a small blue pill into his palm. It looked a little bit like one of those Advil gel pills that they sold in tiny bottles at the gas station, but it was a much darker blue and was more round than oval. Connor must have sensed his confusion. He looked up and followed his eyes until he noticed what Markus was staring at.

“Oh, uh… it’s an antidepressant.” Connor explained, seeming to sense the question that was on the tip of his friend’s tongue. “I take them once a day. Don’t worry, they don’t really have any crazy side effects or anything like that.”

Markus bit at the inside of his bottom lip. He’d been in the system for almost 16 years of his life. He’d seen his fair share of antidepressants…

But whatever that was hadn’t been one of them.

He dismissed it, figuring if Connor didn’t want him to know what it was, then it wasn’t his business.

“Alrighty, let’s get going then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ENCOURAGING YOU TO GO OFF YOUR MEDS!  
> As Markus said, there’s something up with Connor’s pills specifically. Please take care of yourselves.


	4. Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richard’s schedule is pretty thrown off.

Richard was not ashamed to say that his alarm clock was his brother. Sure it made him sound like an irresponsible slacker, but he liked to think of it as valuable use of his resources. Connor was like a machine, capable of following a pretty solid weekly schedule. Richard had managed to weasel his way into that schedule, something that he was very proud of.

How it had always gone since the beginning of their school years was that Connor would wake up at 6 every morning, get up, get showered, brush his teeth and hair, and then walk into their room again at 6:30. He’d see Richard again, still asleep, and make his first attempt at waking him up. Richard would grumble, but not fully wake up. Connor would consider this progress, go down to the kitchen, heat up two breakfast sandwiches, and go back up to check on his brother 15 minutes later. This time, Richard would wake up, go through his own morning routine, take the second sandwich out of the microwave, and the two of them were out the door by 7:20.

It was a system that worked well for them. Connor liked the productive feeling he got from accomplishing his list of morning tasks, and Richard really liked the extra sleep he got out of it. The two of them depended on this exchange going off without a hitch every morning to put them into the right mood for the day. They had even shared the same room for their entire lives despite the fact that the large house they lived in had plenty of space for them to have their own rooms. Far too much of their daily plan revolved around timing, and splitting into different bedrooms would just make it complicated.

This is how it had always been...

But this morning was different.

Richard woke up to the sunlight streaming in through his window and birds chirping outside his window, a comforting bit strange way to wake up at 6:45 in the morning. Normally it was still dark…

Unless…

Richard lazily grabbed his phone off the windowsill next to him, pressing the home button to check the time…

7:09.

“Shit!” Richard swore, energy spiking as he rolled out of bed and ran to his closet. He grabbed the first t-shirt he saw and opted to scoop up his jeans from yesterday off the floor, deciding that they were clean enough.

As he dashed into the bathroom, ignoring the shower entirely and grabbing his toothbrush, he started to devise some sort of plan. He could probably skip out in breakfast and just make up for it by buying some extra food at lunch. He could also skip out on styling his hair today. That right there saved him at least 10 minutes, plus the 30 he would save from the shower… yeah, he was gonna be fine.

As he walked out of the bathroom, feeling a sense of relief, he suddenly remembered one tiny factor he’d forgotten about.

Connor.

Shit… when Connor would decide to sleep in, it was nearly impossible to wake him up. That task on its own probably just added another 10 minutes to their overall time.

“Connor, wake up!” Richard half yelled as he burst through the door of their shared bedroom. “We slept in, we gotta go!”

The bundle of blankets didn’t stir, just as Richard expected. He opened up the curtains with one which motion and looked over at his brother’s bed. Still nothing.

He huffed, walking over to the bed and grabbing the corner of the navy blue blanket. “Connor, we really don’t have time for-“ 

He pulled the blanket off… but the only thing under it was his brother’s sheets and one of his pillows.

“Fuck.” He swore under his breath, throwing the blanket to the ground. That jackass left without him.

Richard sighed. Connor had been acting… strange recently. He’d been pulling all-nighters, arguing with their parents more and more, and even pulling away from his own brother. He could chalk all those other things up to teenage hormones, which was an understandable reason to suddenly be an asshole. 

But to purposely fuck up their morning routine without even telling him? That was going to far.

Richard didn’t have time to think through what exactly Connor’s motives were. He had to get to school.

He turned on his heels, pulled out his phone, and called up a friend of his.

“Hello?” Gavin answered, sounding confused.

“Have you left yet?” Richard didn’t waste any time with a greeting.

“No, I’m walking out to my car right now though.” Gavin said, his voice held the smallest twinge of concern. “Why, what’s up?”

“Could you come get me?” He asked, grabbing his bag off of the floor.

Gavin laughed. “Woah, what happened? Did your chauffeur bail on you?”

“It’s… I’ll tell you when you get here.” Richard replied shortly.

“... That bad huh?” Gavin sighed sympathetically. “I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, man.” Richard said with sincerity. His best friend Gavin Reed could definitely be a real, grade A asshole… but he always had his back when he needed him.

True to his word, Gavin was outside of the house in a matter of 6 minutes, watching patiently as Richard ran out the door and hopped into the passenger seat.

“That bastard woke up early and just left without me!” Richard exclaimed, not waiting to be prompted by Gavin.

“Oh shit, really?” He looked away from the road for a second. “That’s a new low.”

“That’s what I said!” Richard exclaimed. “Who the fuck does that?” 

“Have you tried calling him?” Gavin asked, driving down the street just slightly above the speed limit.

“Not yet.” Richard responded, pulling his phone out and thumbing through his contact list.

“Wait, if you’re gonna yell at him, put him on speaker!” Gavin added excitedly. Richard rolled his eyes playfully and clicked on Connor’s number, putting it on speaker so that both of them could hear it ring.

And ring.

And ring.

“Hello-“ Connor’s voice rang from the other line.

“Hey jackass, did you-“ Richard began, but was cut off by Connor.

“-you have reached Connor’s voicemail. You know what to do.” The prerecorded message ended with a long automated beep. Richard looked over to Gavin, who seemed just as confused as he was.

Connor always answered Richard’s calls.

“H-hey… call me back.” He said simply, pushing down this fear that was starting to pool at the bottom of his stomach.

Something was… off.

——-

Richard figured that he’d see Connor in AP statistics.

When he didn’t, he figured he’d still see him at lunch.

And when that didn’t happen, he was still sure he’d see him at their usual meeting place after school.

He sat there for a while, leaning against the brick outer wall of the school while he looked around. He had to be coming.

He gave calling him another shot, but once again was taken to Connor’s voicemail. He had counted every voicemail he had left. This was number 37.

Gavin walked by, just getting out of swim practice, and offered to give him a ride home. Richard hesitated, but eventually agreed to follow Gavin to his car.

By the time the two of them had pulled into the driveway of Richard’s house, it was already dark, the only lights in the street were the dim street lamps, the headlights of Gavin’s car, and the red and blue flashing lights of a police car that was parked on the curb. Gavin smirked.

“Looks like someone got caught skipping.” He remarked, winking at Richard. Richard didn’t respond, but rather swallowed the lump in his throat and opened the car door.

“Thanks for the ride… see you tomorrow.” He said weakly. Gavin looked confused, but nodded as Richard closed the door behind him.

Something wasn’t right.

He knew it the moment he walked through the front door and saw his parents sitting on the living room couch. A police officer sat opposite to them, asking questions that Richard was too far away to hear.

“Mom? Dad?” He asked, carefully putting his backpack on a nearby chair. “What’s happening?”

For a long while, no one said a word. Suddenly, the officer stood up and turned to address Richard.

“Son… is it ok if I ask you a few questions?” He asked gently. “It’s about your brother.”

Richard eyed him warily. “Did he get caught skipping school or something?”

The officer pursed his lips, as if he was trying to think of how to respond.

“He- well, we believe that your brother might have run away…” the officer explained.

Richard felt the world close off a little. It felt like it was only him, sitting alone in that living room.

“No… no, he wouldn’t… he wouldn’t leave without telling me!” Richard tried to sound like he was absolutely certain of this fact, but his voice wavered. The officer looked at him with sympathy.

“I understand that you’re upset, but-“ He started, reaching out his hand to pat Richard’s shoulder, but Richard slapped his hand away.

“No, no you don’t!” He raised his voice. “He tells me everything, he wouldn’t leave without saying something to me!”

It was true. He and Connor didn’t keep secrets. He had told him the first time he ran away. He kept tabs with him while he was gone, he told him everything!

Richard heard his father’s voice call after him as he pushed past the officer, running up the stairs to his bedroom.

His frustration only grew when he threw open his door and Connor wasn’t there, sitting in his bed, doing his homework, and looking up to ask Richard what was wrong.

He couldn’t handle it anymore. He tugged his phone out of his pocket and clicked on Connor’s contact once more.

It rang… and rang… and rang…

And then went to voicemail.

He decided to leave just one more.

———-

Connor felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but didn’t dare take it out and answer it.

He knew who it was.

His brother had tried calling him almost 40 times today… and every call broke Connor’s heart a little bit more.

But as he sat here, feeling as if the public bus was tossing him back and forth as it drove down the roads of a small town in southern Indiana, he knew it was too late.

He looked out the window, past Markus who had fallen asleep with his cheek against the glass pane. The last bus stop was rolling into view, meaning soon he’d have to wake Markus up and try to find a place to stay the night. There was no time to sit and regret ignoring his brother’s calls.

And there was definitely no turning back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!
> 
> And just a good day to those who don’t.


	5. Wild Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus becomes the gay icon we all deserve.
> 
> And plot stuff happens to.

Markus was still half asleep as he and Connor exited the bus, letting the stale air of the busy street wash over him in hopes that it would wake him up a little. Connor stood next to him, trying and failing to hide his own exhaustion from his companion.

“Alright, so we’re in Indianapolis… or at least just a little outside of it.” Connor announced, checking google maps. “The good news is that there’s no shortage of motels…”

“What’s the bad news?” Markus grumbled, leaning against a cement post. Connor frowned at his screen.

“They’re all quite a walk… closest one is about 40 minutes.” Connor rubbed the back of his neck, pocketing his phone and joining Markus as he leaned back against the pillar.

Markus groaned. “I suppose we aren’t really in the best situation to call an Uber?”

Connor looked up at him blankly, but then chuckled. “Yeah, probably not.” He looked down the road, sighing. “We should grab something to eat before we get going… I’m gonna need a pick-me-up before I go anywhere.”

“Yeah… I need coffee…” Markus muttered. “A lot of it.”

Connor sighed. “I think there’s a McDonalds in the terminal… the question is are we willing to lower our standards to that level?”

“Pft, jokes on you! I don’t have standards!” Markus laughed. “You can sit here and trash on a staple of this country, but I’m gonna go eat!”

“Wait… you actually like that shit?” Connor eyebrows knit in confusion. Markus looked over at him, smirking slightly.

“It’s a heart attack in a delicious, travel sized package. What’s not to like?” Markus reasoned, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

Connor scoffed. “A single burger has like.. twice the overall daily calorie intake. It’s like suicide wrapped up in cheap yellow paper.”

“Honestly, that’s like… half the appeal.” Markus laughed. He looked back over, a little surprised that his comment had actually made Connor crack a smile. “But you gotta admit, it does taste good.”

Connor shifted uncomfortably. “Well… I wouldn’t really know…”

Markus felt his smile drop as he examined Connor’s face, trying to figure out whether he was joking or not. “Wait… you’re telling me that you’ve never had McDonalds?”

“Well… not exactly. I think I had it once when I was 5… but I don’t remember it…” Connor bit his bottom lip awkwardly and shifted his eyes down to his feet. “But I mean, I can’t be missing much.”

Markus blinked. “Ok… we have to get you a Big Mac… immediately.”

Connor narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Aren’t those huge?” 

“No, you’re thinking of Whoppers…” Markus explained, grabbing Connor by the wrist and dragging him towards the terminal. He had no idea where this sudden burst of energy had come from, but he was pretty sure it was some type of cry for help. “Besides, you can afford a few extra calories.”

Connor scowled, but didn’t say anything as he was pulled through the glass doors, both of them walking right into the scent of boiling grease and mystery meat. Markus let go of Connor’s wrist, taking a quick scan of the room before spotting a table for two over by the window.

“You go put our stuff over there and wait for me!” Markus pointed Connor towards the table. His friend looked over at him, confusion only deepening.

“Can you even call it that?” Connor commented under his breath, but began to walk over to the table anyways. 

Markus smiled. “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it!”

\-------

Connor tapped a coin on the table top as he watched Markus walk back over, an overloaded tray in his hand. He smiled as he tossed a small, cardboard box off of the tray and into Connor’s hands.

Connor inspected the box, opening it to reveal a pretty large hamburger nestled inside. At some point there had been lettuce on it, but now it was scattered all over the box (everywhere except on the actual burger). Connor glanced back up at Markus before taking the “food” in his hands.

“Wait! Don’t eat it yet, I need to take a video!” Markus beamed, pulling his phone out of the pocket of his hoodie. Connor raised an eyebrow.

“You’re… going to take a video of me eating a burger?” Connor asked with a laugh. Markus held up his phone, smiling widely.

“You’re about to lose you’re McDonald’s virginity, I have to document this!” Markus hit the record button. Connor cringed.

“Please don’t phrase it like that.” He deadpanned. He looked directly at the camera and gave it an awkward wave. “You good for me to actually start eating?”

“You’re good.” Markus replied, giving him the go-ahead to take the first bite. Connor took the burger in his hand, hesitated, but took a bite anyway.

It… wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Sure, it was a little soggy, and a little cold, and there was no denying that it was clogging his arteries right where he sat…

But it didn’t taste that bad.

Markus looked at him expectantly, awaiting his response. Connor laughed, shaking his head in defeat.

“Ok, you win!” He admitted. “It isn’t that bad.”

Markus hit the stop button on his camera, leaning back and basking in his small victory. 

“That’s what I thought.”

\-------

Amanda closed the door slowly, her husband watching as the officer walked back towards his car. The anxiety rose up from his stomach and made a new home in his throat.

He didn’t want his son to die.

His wife stared at the closed door, and the two of them sat there in silence for a minute longer.

“How much time do we have?” She asked, her nails clicking as she drummed her fingers on the wall. Elijah didn’t look away from his cup of coffee.

“If he takes the pills as directed… We have about 4 weeks.” He explained, shifting in his seat. Amanda sighed, her hand clenching into a fist.

“4 weeks until withdrawals, or 4 weeks until he’s dead?” She hissed. Elijah swallowed the lump in his throat.

“... 4 weeks until withdrawals kill him.” He answered simply, placing his cup on the coffee table. 

He didn’t like this.

His entire life’s work, there and gone in the course of 24 hours. How could he have been so careless? You’d think that after the first time, he would have learned. He would have put some kind of precautions in place.

But instead, he was here. Forced to sit idly while the future of medical technology was in the hands of a mentally unstable 17-year-old boy.

Amanda pursed her lips, finally moving back from the door. “I told you we should have chosen Richard.”

Elijah bit his bottom lip, wanting to point out how much riskier it would have been to choose their other son. He was too unorganized, too messy.

He would have been dead within the first week.

“Just another month…” He whispered, unable to keep his hands still as they shook in his lap. “If this whole fiasco could have waited just another month, I could have stabilized the Thirium in the next batch and we wouldn’t have to be so crunched for time!”

“But you didn’t!” Amanda snapped at him, but quickly found a way to calm herself. “What kind of charges are we looking at if the police find out?”

“They won’t find out.” Elijah reassured her. “Thirium isn’t something that can be tested through any type of bodily fluid. They’d have to do an scan of his brain to find any traces of it.”

Amanda scowled. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

Elijah sighed. She didn’t want to know. That he was sure of.

“Best case scenario, we only get charged with child abuse and endangerment.” He explained. “Worse is felony charges for illegal experimentation.”

Amanda hit her fist against the wall. “Shit!”

Her husband looked up at her, scowling. “You knew the risks when we decided to go through with this, there’s no backing down now. Besides, we’re the ones who called to police in the first place. If they did happen to find anything, we can very easily use that to our advantage.”

She frowned, but still let her hand slowly fall back to her side. “Is there any way to speed up the process from here?”

Elijah scoffed. “It’s a pill, not a remote control drone. The only way to ‘speed up the process’ is if he were to suddenly stop taking them.”

Amanda sighed, trying her best to regain her composure. “We can’t waste time waiting it out, we have to move on or risk losing the progress we already made. We need to switch subjects.”

Elijah felt his chest tighten. 5 years of research that was now inconclusive. 5 years of his life wasted on what he thought was a reliable, unknowing subject. 

But Amanda was right, they’d come too far to give up now. It was better to start back from square one with Richard then to wait for a son that wasn’t coming back.

Elijah didn’t want his son to die…

But not for the reasons that a father should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know after that dramatic ending, I should say something serious...
> 
> But I’m distracted by Markus and his new found, quotable sass. So let’s play a game.
> 
> Guess the Markus Quote of the day in the comments below.
> 
> Winner gets bragging rights, I reveal the answer in the next chapter.


	6. Truth or Dare?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This super self indulgent, but don’t worry I still sprinkled some plot in.
> 
> The Markus Quote for the last chapter was....
> 
> “You’re about to loose your McDonalds virginity”
> 
> This chapter’s quote high key speaks to my soul, so be on the lookout!

Despite popular belief, Connor was not shy. He just tended not to start conversations if he didn’t see a need to.

He will admit that he wasn’t the most social person out there, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t enjoy social interactions…

Which was one of the reasons that he was currently thankful for Markus.

“Ok!” Markus clapped his hands, breaking the silence that had hung between them. They’d only just left McDonalds and walked for a few minutes, but it felt weird to go from the lively chatter from dinner to the sudden silence of their walk to the hotel.

Once again, thank god that Markus couldn’t stand the quiet. “Truth or dare?”

Connor looked over at him, perplexed. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“Truth or dare?” Markus looked over at him and smiled. “C’mon, don’t tell me you’ve never played truth or dare before!”

Connor laughed a little. “Oh, shut up, I’ve played it!”

Connor nudged Markus on the arm teasingly, making his friend smile. “Ok, then answer the question! Truth or dare?”

Connor hummed in thought, considering his answer before finally speaking up. “Truth.”

“Boring!” Markus complained, throwing his head back. Connor shrugged, smiling slightly as he waited for the next question.

“You asked.” He reminded him, shoving his hands in the pockets of his hoodie to protect them from the cold November wind.

“Fine!” Markus laughed, throwing his hands up in surrender. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Really?” Connor scoffed. “You say I’m boring and then you ask that?”

Markus laughed. “I’m easing you into it, just answer the question.”

Connor laughed a little, looking back out to the road in front of them. “Blue.”

Markus hums appreciatively. “Mine too…” Connor turned to look back over at him, grinning playfully.

“Ok, your turn! Truth or dare?” He asked, allowing himself this one moment. The past 24 hours had been hell… why not take an emotional breather?

“Dare!” Markus didn’t even hesitate. Connor bit his bottom lip thoughtfully, his eyes suddenly flicking over to the pair of headlights approaching them on the nearly empty road. Suddenly he had an idea.

“I dare you to flip off the next car that passes us.” Connor raised an eyebrow at Markus, who nodded in appreciation.

“Jumping right in with the mild public humiliation, huh?” He said, looking over at the car about to pass them. “I like your style.”

He stuck his middle finger up, causing the driver to honk their horn and curse loudly out the window as he passed by. Connor let out a short laughed, looking down at the leaves crunching under his boots. Markus smiled as he put his hand down, looking back over to him.

“Truth or dare?” He asked, clearly already thinking of something good.

Connor darted his eyes back up to Markus, smiling softly.

“Truth.” He stated confidently.

“Ok, what’s your most embarrassing story?” Markus asked, bringing in the metaphorical “big guns”.

“...Does it have to be about me?” Connor asked sheepishly.

Markus rolled his eyes, a playful yet devious smile on his face. “Yes, Connor. It has to be about you.”

Connor sighed. “Any specific rating I have to stick to? PG? PG-13?”

Markus looked over at him, confused and curious. “Ok, now you’ve got my full attention. What the hell did you do that was so bad that it needs a rating?”

“Well…” Connor hesitated for a second. “Some time last year, my brother decided to drag me to this party. There was this plate of brownies that were just chilling on the coffee table, so I was like ‘Oh, free snacks, cool’. Turns out… they weren’t really the kind of brownies I thought they were.”

“What kind of brownies were…” Markus waited a second before realizing what Connor meant and bursting out in laughter. “Oh my god, you ate the entire brownie, didn’t you?”

“I ate 3 entire brownies!” Connor corrected him, starting to laugh a little himself. “I was out of it for the next 5 days!”

“Holy shit… how the hell are you alive?” Markus asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

“No idea, luck I guess?” Connor smiled. “You have to tell me yours now!”

“Wait, that wasn’t the deal!” Markus argued, nudging Connor gently with his shoulder. Connor just shrugged.

“It is now.” Connor stated plainly, trying to hide the strange feeling of giddiness that was rising up in him. “Please?”

“Ok, ok!” Markus gave in, smiling widely. “So, when I was living in this foster home in the suburbs, I had my…”

He looked over at Connor hesitantly.

“... Significant other with me. My foster parents were at work, and my foster brother was at a friend’s house. So we decided to take the time to… well… become closer as a couple.” Markus’ cheeks flushed red. “Well, turns out my brother’s friend had gotten sick, so he came back home and, may I add without knocking, opened the bedroom door. Pretty sure that was the reason they kicked me out.”

“Oh…” Connor said, his smile fading. “I’m sorry, man, I didn’t mean to-”

“Please, don’t be! It sucked there. They didn’t even have Netflix.” Markus smirked. “I’m just shocked I didn’t get dumped!”

Connor laughed. “Damn, should the proposed on the spot. If she can handle you after that, she can handle you after anything.”

Markus laughed awkwardly. “Yeah…she.”

Connor frowned once again. “... Do you regret leaving? You know, because of her?”

Markus looked over at him and shook his head. “No, we um… well, we broke it off a few months ago. It was a mutual thing.”

Connor nodded, suddenly feeling bad. Markus probably didn’t want to talk about that…

But Markus smiled over at him still, making Connor start to wonder just how many of those smiles were actually real. “Truth or dare?”

Real or not, Markus’ smile was contagious.

“Truth.”

\---

Markus liked Connor.

It’s not really like he disliked him before, but more as if there was a newfound appreciation for his companion. After all, anyone willing to humor you with a random game of truth or dare on the side of a cold, empty highway had to be someone you could count on.

The game didn’t simmer down, even as the two stepped into the motel room. They’d become too tired to do any of the dares, but their truth game was getting stronger.

Markus knew that Connor’s favorite animal was a dog.

Connor knew that Markus’ least favorite movie was Grease 2.

Markus knew that Connor had tried to do theater once when he was younger, but he wasn’t that great at it.

Connor learned that Markus was lactose intolerant, but chose to ignore it because “We humans were never meant to be immortal”.

Markus learned that this wasn’t Connor’s first time in the run.

As the night went on, the questions started getting deeper and harder to answer honestly.

“Why did you do it?” Markus asked, laying on his bed and watching Connor out of the corner of his eye. The other boy had just gotten out of the shower, and had answered “truth” right before flopping back onto his bed.

Connor turned his head to him, his hair still damp. “Why did I do what?”

“You know… run away?” Markus pushed himself up with his elbows, watching intently as he awaited Connor’s answer.

The other boy what hesitant, biting at his bottom lip as he thought (he did that a lot when he was thinking. Markus was starting to notice these things).

“... You know how it can be with parents. They start to not really see you as your own person.” He said simply, as if he hadn’t just spent the past minute trying to think of how to answer. “Just needed to get out.”

He was lying.

Markus knew he was lying.

If this was just for him to get his parents to notice him, why did running away once not do it? And why did he want to get even farther away this time?

Connor was playing with the hem of his shirt in the same way he had when Markus had asked about the pills last night.

No… he wasn’t lying. Just not fully telling the truth.

Markus nodded, despite knowing that this wasn’t the full story. He wasn’t entitled to know why Connor left, especially since he had no intention of telling Connor why he left either.

“Yeah,” He said sympathetically. “Yeah, I can see that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry but I’m also not sorry.
> 
> Also we stan Markus continuing to be a gay mood and just casually “forget” to mention his significant other’s pronouns. As a little gay, I must say I relate.


	7. Already Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Richard time, buds

Richard stood, leaning against the doorway that opened to the garage and peering in. His and Connor’s car sat in the dark, completely untouched. Technically speaking, it was just Connor’s car. His brother had made that very clear after their plan to split the cost 50/50 ended with him paying all but the $20 for gas after driving back from the dealership. Richard could borrow the car, but it wasn’t his until he paid Connor back.

So he wasn’t going to touch it until his brother got back.

He took his phone out to check the time. 7:00 am. He really should go upstairs. 

Richard ran a hand through his uncombed hair, feeling the tangles pull against his fingers. He turned around, jumping a little when he saw his father standing not far behind him.

“Oh… Dad. I didn’t think you’d be up this early.” He said simply. His father nodded thoughtfully, his hair tied up into a loose bun.

“Normally I’m not.” He replied. These types of awkward exchanges had become the norm in the Kamski household. Heaven forbid they show emotion.

“I noticed.” Richard adjusted the bag on his shoulder, not sure whether to wait for his father to break the silence or to just push his way past him. “Do you need something?”

Richard knew that his father wasn’t one for feelings. He wasn’t going to get a heart to heart moment, or a word or two of encouragement. Instead, what he got was a beat of awkward eye contact, a short second of hesitance, and the sound of pills moving in a loosely packed container. Richard watched with curiosity as his father placed the pills on the counter. Not a word about what they do, or how they relate to him.

“These might help you get through this… slump.” He said it as if this was supposed to be an explanation. “Have a good day at school.”

Who says that? Who walks up to their son after the only person who gave a damn about him in this family left (No, not left, just gone. He’ll come back) and tells them to “have a good day”?

He didn’t give Richard a chance to ask any questions before he turned on his heels and left. Not a goodbye, not a hug. Just left.

Richard looked down at the bottle in his hand, shaking it slightly and hearing the pills rattle. The pulled the cap off, inspecting the capsules inside. 

Deep blue, and vaguely familiar. He’d seen them before.

He sighed, putting the cap back on and shoving them into his coat pockets. They’d probably been in some type of strange prescription cocktail that someone had placed out at a party he had been too drunk to remember.

He didn’t have time to dwell on what they were. His phone buzzed, telling him that Gavin was waiting just outside.

He threw open the front door, not bothering to look both ways before running into the street and hopping into the passenger side of Gavin’s car.

“Hey.” He gave a quick greeting to his friend, who looked up at him with concern. He knew Gavin wouldn’t say it, but he was worried about him. After all, not even 24 hours had past since he found out his brother had left (He didn’t leave. He’d be back). 

“Hey… how you feeling?” His voice was soft, as if speaking too loudly would upset him. Richard almost wanted to laugh as he imagined something so small being the thing that finally sent him over the edge.

He felt the pills in his coat pocket press against his leg as he sat down. So what now? He takes the pills and lets them numb him until he can’t remember why he was sad? He takes them so that his parents can sleep at night knowing that they no longer have to fix their other fuck up of a son? So they knew that their biggest mistake can finally be the perfect little robot that they had tried and failed to shape Connor into?

Fuck no.

“Yeah.” He assured Gavin. “I’m ok.”

\---

Richard couldn’t stay at that school for another minute.

He should have just texted Gavin that he was sick and ditched.

Walking through the doors had felt like walking on a stage with no script, no rehearsal, and a big, bright spotlight shining on you. In the hallway, in class, in the locker rooms all eyes were on him. They watched him like any sudden movement would be the one he used to end it all. They spoke to him like their words actually held enough power to hurt him.

Only two people on this earth had enough power to hurt him with words alone, and one of them had left him (No, he was just gone! He would never leave!).

Every sympathetic stare tore into him. He didn’t want this. They didn’t understand. 

They kept asking him questions, asking if he knew where he was and giving him their theories when he didn’t give them an answer.

One girl told him that he had eloped with an older man.

A guy in his biology class said he was being held hostage.

Another told him he was selling himself on the corner by the old movie theater under an assumed name.

The stories got crazier and crazier, each one sounding less and less like Connor.

But still, it was too much. These thoughts scared him.

His brother, his twin, the only person who had been a constant in his life could be dead in a ditch for all he knew.

He’d only managed to make it through 2 and a half classes before he finally couldn’t take it anymore. He asked for a bathroom pass and snuck out of the school building with a group of juniors who were just leaving for lunch.

He started walking, not caring what direction he went in. Anywhere was better than there.

He eventually grew hungry at around 2 pm, and ducked into a nearby gas station to grab something to eat.

He stepped into the building, breathing in the scent of cheap coffee and plastic as he surveyed the area. He was the only person there, aside from the cashier and an older gentleman with shoulder length, greasy grey hair. He sighed, shutting the door behind him and heading directly towards the snack aisle.

As he scanned the rows of chips and other various junk foods, he became increasingly aware that he was being watched. He shrugged it off, thinking it probably had something to do with the fact that he was supposed to be in school right now.

He sighed, grabbing a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips and heading over to the cashier. The 20-something year old man eyed his suspiciously as he slid the bag over to him on the counter.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” He asked. Richard eyed the nose ring, beanie, and numerous floral tattoos.

“Shouldn’t you be reading slam poetry in an obscure cafe downtown for spare change?” He raised an eyebrow at the cashier, who scowled at him and pushed the chips back over the counter.

“That’ll be $2.15, smartass.” He held his hand out. Richard ignored his outstretched hand, slamming the money on the counter and taking his food.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” He said sourly. He felt eyes follow him as he turned on his heels and walked out of the door, though he now noticed that it wasn’t the cashier who was watching him leave.

Not long after he was out the door, he heard the door opening again behind him. He peeked over his shoulder and watched as the older man leave the store without buying a thing.

That’s… weird.

Richard picked up his pace slightly, shoving his hands into his pockets and running his fingers gently along the small can of pepper spray that he carried around with him. Just in case.

The man must have noticed Richard’s quickening pace, and he sped up as he began to follow the boy. “Hey!”

Shit.

Richard tried to pretend he didn’t hear him, walking even faster and ducking down an alley.

“Hey! I know you can hear me!” Richard’s heart was racing, his legs taking him from a fast walk to a run. “Hey!”

He kept going, running until his legs gave out… sadly that wasn’t as long as he had hoped (not eating all day will do that to you). The older man gained on him easily, finally catching up and grabbing him by the shoulder.

“Hey, I thought I told you to get the fuck outta h-” He started, but Richard cut him off with a swift punch to the jaw. The man stumbled back, and Richard took the time to pull his pepper spray out of his pocket.

“Don’t come any fucking closer!” He aimed the can right at the older man, his hands only shaking slightly.

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck Connor!” The man hissed. Richard’s blood ran cold.

Connor.

The man got up, muttering swear words. He locked eyes with Richard and paused. Richard swallowed a lump in his throat.

“You aren’t…” The older man trailed off, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Richard didn’t have time for this.

“How do you know Connor?” He asked, trying to summon as much courage as he could. He was still high off adrenaline, and his fight-or-flight reflex was trying to break through. Still, he stood his ground and tried to look as commanding as possible.

“... You’re Richard.” The older man grunted as he pushed himself up off the ground. Richard took a step back, his composure starting to crumble.

“How do you know my name? And how the fuck do you know Connor?” He was terrified, his hands shaking uncontrollably. The man sighed.

“Calm down, son. Just put the can down and I’ll answer your questions…” He looked Richard in the eye. “But you have to answer some of mine too.”

Richard hesitated, lowering the pepper spray. “I’m not going to put it away.” 

The older man smiled reassuringly. “Didn’t expect you to.”

He brushed his pant leg off as Richard eyed him warily. “Who are you, and how do you know Connor?”

“Relax kid, I’m not trying to hurt him.” The man assured him. “The name’s Hank Anderson.”

Richard blinked. “... You’re the one Connor stayed with when he…” 

Hank nodded. “Yep, that was me.”

“... How do you know my name though?” Richard raised an eyebrow, not sure if he could really trust this man. How did he really know this was Hank Anderson?

Hank let out a laugh. “Connor never shut up about you! Granted… he didn’t really shut up about a lot of things. But you were a notable one.”

Richard nodded. “Ok… then I’ve only got one more question. Where is he?”

Hank frowned. “You don’t know?”

Richard wanted to make some kind of snide comment about how if he knew, he wouldn’t need to ask him. But he kept managed to keep his cool. “No… I don’t.”

“That’s what I was going to ask you…” Hank let out a dry laugh. “But I guess in a way, that does answer my question.”

Richard frowned. “What do you mean?”

Hank’s eyes were honest, as he looked Richard right into his. “I told him to get out of here. You should do the same, son.”

“... You’re lying.” Richard whispered. Hank looked at him, surprised. “Connor wouldn’t just leave, you’re lying! Where is he!”

“I swear to you, I’m telling the truth. If he’s gone, then it means he skipped town. I don’t know where he is, but he’s better of there than in that house with your fuckin’ parents!” Hank defended. “If he’d stayed, I’m sure he’d be dead right now.”

“What does that even mean?” Richard was frustrated. Destroyed. Angry.

Angry at Connor.

“Listen, your family is up to some kind of sketchy shit, and they wanted to drag Connor down with them. With him gone, I’m sure they’ll do the same to you. That’s really all I know.” Hank said calmly. “Just get out of there while you still can, ok?” 

Richard watched blankly as the man turned around and walked away, leaving him alone in an alley with a bag of chips and a can of pepper spray aimed at the ground.

It was true. Connor had really just decided to leave Detroit.

Connor left him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sorry
> 
> But hey, we got to see Hank


	8. On the Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These kiddos might be in over their heads.

Markus was a bit of an early riser.

There were times where it wasn’t very helpful.

He had once stayed up until 3 AM cramming for a final, and his internal clock still decided to wake him up at 5:30. It took over 6 cups of coffee for him to even resemble a functional human being (being an early riser didn’t necessarily mean you were a morning person).

However, when you’re on the run from the Detroit Police… it was just a tad bit helpful.

“Connor.” Markus knocked on the door to their motel room. “Hey, you decent?”

“I have pants on, if that’s what you mean.” He said simply. Markus rolled his eyes, opening the door slowly. Connor did indeed have pants on. He looked up at Markus, giving a short wave. Two of those strange blue pills were nestled in his palm. “What’s the breakfast rating?”

“Wouldn’t know, it was gone by the time I got there.” Markus admitted. “Apparently, they put it away at 7:00.”

Connor grimaced. “Who the hell does that?”

“People who find joy in watching the world burn at their feet, I guess.” Markus smiled. “But, that does mean that you get to try McDonalds breakfast menu.”

Connor’s eyes widened. “They serve breakfast?”

“They serve everything. Truly a staple in the american dream.” Markus mused, tossing his jacket on his bed and ducking into the bathroom. He could hear Connor scoff.

“Why does that terrify me so much?” He commented. Markus heard the bed springs creak, and the sound of bare feet on the thin green carpet.

“Probably because you’re a non-believer.” Markus shrugged, grabbing his toothbrush and his little travel-sized toothpaste.

“That sounds cultish, but ok.” Connor laughed, now standing right at the opening of the bathroom. “Mind if I duck in real quick to get some water?”

“No.” Markus said with his mouth full of toothpaste. “You are banned from the bathroom. Suffer.”

Connor laughed as Markus lifted his arm up, trying to give him room to enter. The two were tetris'd into the bathroom, Markus brushing his teeth with one arm extended way above his head while Connor was leaning under him and filling a paper cup with water from the faucet.

“Move your elbow!” Connor laughed, almost spilling his drink. Markus smirked defiantly, resting his elbow on Connor’s head.

“You’re not my dad, you can’t make me do anything!” Markus teased. Connor rolled his eyes, slipping out from under Markus’ arm and standing back in the doorway.

“You’re a dick, you know that right?” Connor laughed, swallowing his pill and taking a sip of his water. 

“You love me. You don’t have a choice. I’m now the only constant in your life.” Markus shrugged, spitting out the toothpaste in his mouth. Connor rolled his eyes, walking back out to the bedroom. Markus wiped his face with a towel before joining him.

“Hey, what’s this?” Connor picked up the newspaper that Markus had brought with him from the main lobby.

“Uh, a newspaper?” Markus teased.”Maybe the baby boomers are right. Our generation must be fucked if some of us can’t even identify common household objects.”

Connor huffed. “Fuck off, you know what I meant.”

“Ok, Grumpy!” Markus smiled. “Well, if you must know then look on the front page, We’ve made it to a new level of fame.”

Connor furrowed his eyebrows, turning the paper over. He read the first paragraph out loud. “‘Police are baffled by the disappearances of Markus Manfred (18) and Connor Kamski (17), two sons from Detroit’s most affluent families that both went missing in the same night. Both families are in shock after they both woke to find their children missing from their beds without a word without so much as a note.’”

Markus made a face. He wasn’t really sure if the whole “missing from his bed” thing really applied to his situation.

“‘The Manfred residence showed a struggle, with one of the two children of Carl Manfred being found unconscious at the scene. Leo Manfred (20) claims to have no memory of what happened, or where his brother went.’” Connor looked up. “Do I even want to ask for context on that one?”

Markus pursed his lips. “Probably an exaggeration or something. He was most likely just asleep, but they needed to add in some spice.” He lied.

Connor seemed to have bought it and continued reading. “‘As far as authorities can tell, the two do not have much in common. While they both went to the same school, but seemed to be from entirely different social groups. Their after school activities and most of their classes were entirely different. But, with no ransom note to go off of, the options are still up in the air.’”

“Keep reading, it gets better.” Markus said.

“Markus… maybe I’m looking too deep into this, but this seems kinda bad? I mean, they might be searching around for a kidnapper or something when we both know that Detroit has bigger issues that probably require the police’s attention.”

“But they already have a lead.” Markus smirked at Connor’s confusion. “Just keep reading.”

Connor skimmed the first few sentences before he burst into laughter. “Holy shit! ‘The police do have a lead after an interview with an employee at the southern Detroit bus terminal. Elliot Rodriguez (23) claims that he saw both boys at the terminal at about 2 in the morning, just an hour after first responders showed up at the Manfred residence in response to a 911 call. ‘They were with this older guy, I think his ID said he was 25? They ended up on a bus heading towards Indiana.’”

Connor was laughing uncontrollably, making something in Markus’ chest swell up. He reached over to grab Connor’s wallet and take out his fake ID.

“Looks like you kidnapped yourself, my dude.” He laughed, tossing the ID to him.

“Jesus Christ, how boring does this guy’s life that he has to make this shit up just for his 5 seconds of fame?” Connor shook his head in disbelief.

“Hey, guy’s gotta get some action in his life. If it takes the police off our trail, then it’s fine by me.” Markus said. 

“How much of this did you read?” Connor asked, idly flipping through the pages of the paper. Markus leaned back on the bed, shrugging.

“Only the first two paragraphs. Got bored after that.” He said simply, staring up at the ceiling. 

“You have the attention span of a goldfish.” Connor hummed, scanning the page he was on lazily. His face suddenly fell as he continued to read the article written about him and Markus. His eyes widened. “Shit! Markus, look at this!”

He passed the paper over to Markus, pointing out the specific part of the passage that he was referring to. There, in full color, were two pictures. One was of Connor, smiling widely as he pet a small dog in his lap. The other was Markus, laughing at the camera. His eyes were open just enough so that he could clearly see the blue and green of his irises. Under the pictures was a caption pleading for the citizens of Indiana to keep their eyes peeled and bring these boys home.

“Fuck…” Markus muttered. Connor leaned in closer.

“They put $5,000 on our heads.” Connor said, pointing to another passage.

“$5,000 in total?” Markus asked, not sure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

Connor shook his head. “$5,000 each.” He sighed. “We need to get the fuck out of here.”

“Is it safe to take public transport? I mean, someone’s bound to recognize us.” Markus pointed out, tapping his chin in thought.

“Do you think we could call a cab? Maybe if we get one now and pay them enough, they might be able to drop us off in Illinois.” Markus suggested. Cab drivers have been out since pretty early this morning, so it was a lot less likely that they had gotten the chance to read the news yet.

Connor grimaced. “That’s a pretty big ‘maybe’...”

“Well…” Markus sighed, “Our only other option is to wait around here for someone to catch us.”

Connor nodded, looking away for a second. “I can call the cab company, but we still need to check out… you said you found the newspaper in the lobby, right?”

“I see your point…” Markus thought for a second. “I could probably throw on a hoodie and… hey, do you have anything I could put on my face?”

Connor looked sheepish. “I… have a pair of glasses. In the side pocket of my bag.”

Markus snickered. “Wait, you wear glasses? Since when?”

“Markus, not the time!” Connor warned. “Just go get them and hurry back. I’ll get the stuff together.”

Markus nodded, going to grab the glasses and pulling up his hood. Connor got to work throwing things into their bags while Markus pushed the glasses on. He couldn’t see very well with them, but it should be fine. 

He looked over to Connor. “How do I look?”

“Pretentious.” Connor replied shortly. Markus smiled. “Hurry back, ok?”

Markus nodded. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time coming, not a lot happening. Exciting stuff happening next chapter tho.


	9. On The Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in a car at 3 in the morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has a really creepy adult figure hitting on a minor, if that might trigger anything with you than please proceed with caution and stay safe <3

When Markus had first imagined his daring, undercover mission to the front desk he definitely had some wild ass stealth shit in mind. His adrenaline was pumping and he was ready to scale a wall if need be. Who knows, maybe even hotwire a car and escape with Connor all Bonnie and Clyde style (but he was Clyde, since he was the one stealing the car). 

Instead he got a disinterested college student behind a dusty motel counter and a half hearted “have a good day, sir.”

In hindsight, the guy probably hadn’t left his desk since early in the morning. He most likely hadn’t even seen the newspaper. And even if he did, it wasn’t like Connor’s blurry ass glasses would have been enough to hide his identity. Oh well, color him mildly disappointed.

“You call a cab?” He asked as he walked into the room once more. Connor almost immediately thrusted a bag into his hands.

“Yup!” He popped the “p” with enthusiasm. “He should be here any minute.” 

Markus nodded. “And you’re sure you got everything?”

Connor rolled his eyes playfully. “Yes, Dad. I got everything.”

“Watch your tone, young man!” Markus said with a laugh. Connor scoffed, elbowing him gently as he passed by. 

The two headed out, sitting down on the curb as they waited. Their hoods were pulled up enough to cover their faces, just in case they were unfortunate enough to happen across one of the three people in this world who seemed to actually read the newspaper.

The cab pulled up a little bit later than expected, and one look at it had Markus wondering if taking their chances at getting caught was still an option. 

The cab looked like it had once been some shade of yellow, but the patches of paint that hadn’t rusted away were so dirty that it was kinda hard to tell. The whole thing looked like it was going to collapse if the wind blew on it too hard.

He looked over to Connor, who had the same look of hesitation on his face. Just then, the car gave out a loud honk. The two exchanged a look of discomfort before deciding that their best bet was probably risking getting into that dumpster on wheels.

Markus opened the door, gesturing for Connor to go ahead of him. He wrinkled his nose before climbing in, Markus following soon after.

Some say that the car reflects the owner, something that Markus had never really understood until now. The driver of this specific car was easily the smelliest person he had ever encountered. His stench alone was almost enough to make Markus turn around and give walking a shot. 

He wasn’t too pretty to look at either. He had thin, greasy, shoulder length black hair and a patchy beard that went down to his neck. He wore a stained grey tank top that was ripped and exposed much more of his massive chest than Markus was comfortable with seeing.

He adjusted the rear view mirror as Connor crawled across the seats. Markus saw him point the mirror towards his companion and lost close his chapped lips in a way that implied he was giving the term “rear view” a more literal meaning. Markus felt his shoulders tense up and he scooted closer to Connor than necessary, just to feel safer.

“Where you boys heading?” He asked with his raspy voice, not bothering to turn to face them.

“As far west as you’re willing to go.” Connor said simply. The driver’s beady eyes widened a bit, then darkened. 

“How do you plan on paying for that?” Markus’ blood boiled as he watched the driver aim the mirror down Connor’s body, stopping right at his crotch. Connor noticed this too, and crossed one leg over his lap as to clearly decline the greasy man’s advance.

“We have money.” Markus said sternly. The mirror was point over to him, the driver still unwilling to turn around. He didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he wasn’t getting laid by an underage boy once Markus mentioned money.

“Alright, buckle up.” He hit the gas hard, causing the two boys to jolt forward.

“Ouch!” Markus hissed, hitting his forehead against the seat in front of him.

Connor leaned back, placing his hands on his upper arms. He looked cold, but Markus didn’t dare ask the driver to turn up the heat out of fear for his suggestions on how to keep Connor warm. 

He started to unzip his own jacket to pass over to his friend when he saw Connor move toward one of the bags out of the corner of his eye. He unzipped the top zipper and pulled out a… blanket?

“Did you steal that from the motel?” Markus leaned forward and whispered in disbelief. Connor smiled at him.

“Not like they don’t have thousands more.” He defended, throwing the blanket over both of them. Markus just smiled and shook his head.

“I’m a bad influence on you.”

—-

They must have fallen asleep, because one second it was still light out and the next it was dark. Markus was laying as horizontally as one could in the backseat of a car. His head was pressed uncomfortably against the door and there was a slight pressure on his chest…

Oh shit that was Connor.

Markus almost stopped breathing at that realization and felt blood rush to his… face. Rush right to his face and nowhere else. He was content with just falling right back to sleep. At least until…

“Yeah, I just watched the news.” The rough voice of their driver gave Markus the unwanted reminder of exactly where he was. “You’ll never guess who’s in my back seat.”

Markus felt this chest tighten again as he held his breath and listened.

“Yeah, they called me up for a cab, got stuck in traffic about an hour ago so I checked the news. I’d bet my mother it’s them.” He gave a gross laugh. “I’m comin’ home a few thousand richer.”

Markus was freaking out, but before he could think of what to do (what could he do?), he felt the car jolt to a stop.

“Lettin’ you go, gotta take a leak.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, hanging up with whoever he was talking to and closing the door. Now was their chance.

“Hey… Con!” Markus shook Connor’s shoulder. The other boy just grumbled in response. “Wake up, we gotta go!”

Connor opened his eyes, looking up at Markus unamused. Great. If Markus had learned anything over the past few days, it was that a sleepy Connor was a useless Connor.

He had to practically drag Connor out of the car with all the strength he could summon after just waking up himself. “Go wait for me in the bushes over there, Ok?” He had said once he’d gotten Connor out.

The other boy grumbled as he slowly walked towards the area Markus had pointed to. Markus had to fight the urge to yell at him to go faster.

Instead he turned his attention to the backseat, draping the blanket in a way that kinda looked like there were still people under it? 

Whatever, he’s just have to hope for the best. He started running out of the gas station parking lot, grabbing Connor’s arm and dragging him out of the fluorescent light and into the dark bushes. Not even a second later, he heard the door of the gas station open. Markus held his breath as he heard the car start up, refusing to breathe until he heard it putter away.

He gave out a sigh of relief, sinking down to a sitting position. He felt Connor slump against his shoulder and decided it was best to just leave him.

He’d explain what happened in the morning.

—-

Kamski had looked through his data over and over and over, trying to find something. Some combination of pills, water, and time that his son might happen upon that could save his life.

It’s not like it should matter anymore. He had his new subject, the best case scenario for him would be for Connor to die and leave no evidence.

But something changed when he went to go give Richard the pills. 

It was like he was seeing his own child for the first time. Richard had his father’s nose, his mother’s mouth, and Amanda’s cold glare.

It was like he had just realized that this was his son.

Kamski pushed the memory away, burying his face in his hands. The only way to get him off the pills without killing him was to wean him off. It was a slow, painful process that required months of time, a strict schedule, and more pills that Connor had with him.

Every other scenario had him running out. He’d be able to live another painful, withdrawal ridden week on the build up still in his body from the years he’d taken them before his withdrawals would grow too intense.

He’d sentenced his son to death. And there was nothing Elijah could do to stop it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I made an erection joke. Yes you can make fun of me for it
> 
> But speaking of making fun of me, I made a discord server so people can yell at me about my works, this is the link, please come talk to me: https://discord.gg/3Ba6bPJ


	10. South

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guys I’m sorry

Connor had some top-of-the-line bullshit laptop, complete with every security feature known to man. He had the option to put a password, passcode (apparently that was an entirely different thing?), thumbprint scanning, retina scanning, all the works. But for all of Connor's vast intelligence, he was not tech savvy. With their combined skills, Richard and Connor had only been able to turn on two of them. The password was the two’s birthday (but in numerical order. Why? Because it’s Connor Kamski) and the facial recognition lock, which was obviously set to Connor’s face…

And by extension, Richard’s.

He took a deep breath, opening up the laptop like touching it the wrong way would set an alarm off or something. Connor would probably slit his throat if he walked in and saw him touching his laptop. He had always been protective of whatever things ended up on his side of the room (this included things that weren’t his. Richard had lost many shirts to the invisible bedroom border). But he had to do this. If Connor had left any clue that might point out where he was going, it would be in here.

He typed in the password, hooded his eyes for the facial scanner to hide their color, and then closed them entirely as the screen displayed a welcome message. He knew what his brother’s background was; A picture of the two of them from three years ago. It featured Richard in the height of his Diet Emo phase and Connor smiling up at the camera with the thick black glasses that he had traded in for contacts only two months later. They were sitting on the curb of their quiet street, ankles crossed in the road and Richard smoking a joint like his life depended on it. God, that shit burnt his throat.

Richard opened his eyes, letting the image of his brother fill him with a mixture of anger and sadness. He thought back to what Hank Anderson had told him. It couldn’t be true, could it? He wouldn’t have just left him here alone… right?

A sharp knock on the door tore through the sentimental moment, the panic causing Richard to slam the laptop shut.

“M-Mom, I told you I’m not-” He started, but the voice from the other side of the door cut him off.

“It’s me.” Gavin’s voice was gentle, but still had that certain edge to it. He sounded calm, but in a way that was fake. Like his entire demeanor was all for Richard’s benefit.

He didn’t wait for Richard to give him permission before opening the door. It was hesitant, but once again not in a way that could make his reasoning behind it seem faltering. Gavin wanted to talk.

Richard gave a head nod in greeting, having pushed his feet against the desk so hard that he had sent himself back to his side of the room. Nothing about it seemed natural, but it was the best he could do with the time given.

“Um… whatcha doing?” Gavin had an eyebrow raised as he looked between the swivel chair and Richard.

Richard just shrugged. “Just… ya know. Hanging.”

Gavin sighed, going to sit on Connor’s bed but then pausing. He looked up at Richard, almost as if he was asking for approval before taking a seat. Richard ignored the message his face was trying to convey. He hated it. He hated how Gavin was walking on eggshells around him.

Gavin didn’t sit on the bed. Instead he made the effort of walking all the way over the invisible border to Richard’s desk, pulling out his desk chair, and taking a seat there.

“Hey, can I talk to you about something?” He asked, looking down at his clasped hands. Richard just sighed, turning his head to look out the window.

Gavin frowned, scooting forward and putting his hand on Richard’s shoulder. “Come on man, this is serious.”

Richard hesitated, but then turned around to actually face Gavin. “Fine. What is it?” His voice was cold, which probably would have been enough to turn anyone else away. But this was Gavin.

He took a deep breath, clearly trying to pick his words carefully. “Listen, your mom sent me up here to-“

Richard stood up abruptly, practically sending the chair he had been sitting I. Flying into the wall as he headed for the door. He felt Gavin grab him by the upper arm, pulling him back from the exit and felt the overwhelming urge to just push him off and keep walking. Instead, he stood still, not moving away but not facing him either.

“Jesus Christ, Gavin who’s side are you even on?” He practically growled the words out, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. 

He could hear Gavin’s scoff. “Your side, dumbass. Listen, you’re moping around, skipping class, you won’t even leave this room unless it’s absolutely necessary. You’ve turned this whole room upside down with your Nancy Drew bullshit. I’m… fuck, I’m worried, OK?”

Richard ripped his arm out of Gavin’s grip, turning around to actually face him. “Worried about what?”

Gavin pursed his lips, evading the question entirely. Richard felt like something broke in him, his brain peicing together just what he meant. Fucking great.

“Listen… your dad gave you those pills, right?” Gavin’s voice was calmer. “Just give them a shot. If they don’t help, then you don’t have to take them.”

“Are you even listening to yourself?” Richard raised his voice a little more than he had originally wanted to, but he couldn’t find any reason to lower it. Gavin deserved to be yelled at for what he was suggesting.

“I know you guys don’t always get along, but they’re your parents. They want what’s best for you!” Gavin looked at him with pleading eyes, but he could see the anger bubbling just below the surface. “Didn’t you even consider how hard this is on them too?”

“Didn’t you consider how maybe there’s a reason he left the first time? Our parents have never given a shit about us, and they aren’t going to start now!” Richard had to hold back his tears, but the way his voice cracked gave him away. “My dad isn’t a doctor, he can’t just feed me his stupid pills and get me to shut the hell up.”

Gavin’s bit at his bottom lip. “He works with people like- people who show those kinds of signs all the-“

“No, he worked in a lab. With his machines and his rats and all his chemicals. He has no idea what to even look for and clearly neither do you.” Richard spat out, grinding his teeth after he was done. He could feel the tension in the room growing thicker with every passing second.

“Why are you so against getting help? You push me away, you push your family away, you just push everyone away so that you can prove to us all that you’re right!” Gavin’s temper boiled over, angry and hotter than Richard had ever seen it before. “If you don’t want people to help you then can you at least try to help yourself-“

“And take those pills that I barely even know what they do?” Richard retorted.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. ‘I just took a handful of these pills I found on the coffee table at this sketchy ass party’, since when has that bothered you?” Gavin pointed out, taking a step closer to Richard with fury in his eyes.

Richard laughed humorlessly. “OK, I assume you want me to just take the whole bottle, right? Write you all each little individual notes and down the whole thing so that each of you has written proof that there’s something to fix?” 

That seemed to have gotten Gavin’s attention. His anger melted away, now replaced by fear. “That’s not funny!”

“But that’s what you want, isn’t is?” Richard asked. “You want me to go off the rails and prove you all right!”

“For god’s sake Richard, that doesn’t even make any sense!” Gavin realized that Richard wasn’t serious, which only seemed to anger him more. He threw his hands up in surrender. “Fuck it, do whatever you want! See if I give a shit!”

He stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Richard just stood there for a second, letting himself calm down.

Once he was back on earth again he sighed, crumpling into Connor’s chair. As infuriating as Gavin was, he did have a point. His friend really did just want to help him.

He figured he would find a way to apologize to him later. Right now, he had something more important to do. He stood up and walked over to his own desk, fishing into one of the drawers and pulling out a white bottle. He cracked open the lid, poured out two round, blue pills and sighed.

What harm could it do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don’t kill me I’ve had the plot planned out since before I


End file.
